The technology trap

Everyone’s talking and talking about this “renaissance in technology” (heard on NPR this morning) and all of the extra special gadgets and artificial intelligence being developed at a fantastic pace, as if the lifestyle of the Jetsons is about to magically manifest itself in our lives.

Who’s talking about the carbon footprint of manufacturing a new car? Is anyone thinking about how when a driver dumps their old car to buy a fancy new one, they are buying ores dug out of the ground, minerals extracted, parts made, petroleum to transport all the raw materials and to make the tires, plastic parts, paint, etc., the assembly… all of which takes fossil fuels that emit between 6 and 35 tons of CO2?

Who’s talking about the jobs being lost as a result of automation of almost every aspect of car manufacturing, except of course the job of mining metals for use in the car parts and batteries and computers that run our new fancy cars, jobs which are often filled by children as young as seven years old?

We are a species enthralled by technology. We think technology will save us, not realizing that with every new technology “renaissance” we learn to value life and the ecosystem just a little bit less. We think building vast solar and wind farms will solve our energy crisis, not realizing that all that technology infrastructure requires vast amounts of fossil fuels to manufacture, transport, install, clean, and maintain. We think self-driving cars will make driving safer and more fun — and perhaps they will — but we don’t think about all the downsides of a new technology infrastructure until it is far far too late, when that technology has become an integrated and essential part of our lives.

In some ways the push for new technology has a life of its own. We have no choice but to participate because if we don’t we are left behind; we must participate in the system (to make money to buy food and stuff) — i.e., the matrix — in order to survive.

Technology is a tool. Every tool can be used for good, and can be used for bad. Every technology has a big price to pay. And with every new technology, we lose our humanity just a little bit more.